Unique Summertime Church Fundraising Events

The summer months are here and bring one of the best times of year to host your church fundraising events. Raising vital funds for your church and congregation can be super successful with creative church fundraising activities.

When members of a congregation come together with a single mission, inspired by the church community that they belong to, church fundraising events can be not only be a successful way to raise money, but a road to uniting members of the church as a community. Church fundraising can be used for youth group initiatives, mission trips, capital campaigns and more.

There are numerous church fundraising activities that work really well, so let’s break down some of the best summer fundraising events and how to make them the most successful events you’ve ever held.

Church Lawn Fete

Hosting a lawn fete on the grounds of the church can be a fun and exciting way to host an event that the entire community joins in on. A lawn fete is a church fundraising event that consists of carnival rides, games, food and all of the fun things people love about summer. As part of the lawn fete, you could host a a BBQ dinner. By ensuring that the church receives a certain percentage of all ride and game ticket sales, your guests will not only have a great time with their friends and families, they’re also helping you to bring your church mission to life.

You could have food, beverages and prizes donated ahead of time to offset the cost, therefore increasing your proceeds even further. An important aspect of in-kind as well as financial donations is tracking them with church donation software that will allow you to not only keep track of each donation, but to also to thank your supporters after the church fundraising event is over.

You may also offer corporate sponsorships to allow signage and exposure of the businesses’ name to all of the community members that attend the event.

Rubber Duck Racing

When it comes to enjoying the short summer months, there’s one thing that always comes to mind – water. A unique church fundraising event which takes place on the water is a rubber duck race. Yes, people literally race rubber ducks on water. With rubber duck races people pay an entry fee to compete. The numbered ducks are released at the same time into a local stream or river, and float downstream to a predetermined location. The first duck to cross the finish line is declared the winner, and often receives a donated prize.

In order to participate in the race, folks register ahead of time and each registered participant pays an entry fee. The exact fee depends on how much money you need to raise and how many participants your event can handle in terms of space and time. To track your participants, you may utilize event management fundraising software with which you not only track the participants, but also the donations for the prizes for the winners of the race.

DoJiggy offers special eventfundraising software that allows you to track ticket sales, the number of participants, and website templates for online registration and more.

Treasure Sales

How does the old saying go, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” A fun way to find new-to-you treasures, while supporting the mission of your church is to host a yard sale, or to put a more fun spin on it, a treasure sale. The best part about this type of church fundraising activity is that it’s fairly simple and it doesn’t cost the church much because all of the items are donated. Once you’ve picked a date, ask your congregants to bring two or three boxes of gently-used items each week when they come to church. Then on the day of the actual event, weather permitting, set up some tables in the church parking lot. You can also choose to host it indoors if the weather looks rainy. Members of the church can volunteer to work the sale, selling items and helping customers carry them to their car. Imagine the treasures found and money raised!

Garden Flower Sale

With summer comes beautiful gardens full of seasonal flowers that can be a great church fundraising activity. Over a certain number of days you’ll sell certain types of garden flowers that fit your region of the world. After you’ve decided on the types of flowers you’re going to buy, you’ll want to find a flower provider. This would be a great opportunity to partner with an in-kind donation from local greenhouses and suppliers.

Church members volunteer to set up a flower-selling station where volunteers will take orders or people can come and pick out the flowers of their choice themselves. Once all of the orders are in, you can purchase the flowers to be delivered or pick them up yourselves on the predetermined weekend. Everyone who purchases flowers to place in their yards to support your church will be reminded of your amazing mission when their gardens are bright and beautiful.

Summertime church fundraising activities can set you up for success for the entire year of fundraising for your congregation. By utilizing the amazing and generous volunteers from your congregation, coupled with strategic and creative fundraising events, the impact can be a positive one on both the budget of your church and the sense of community contained within it.

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About Heather

Heather Filipowicz, CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive), has over 15 years of nonprofit fundraising and management experience. She successfully raised millions of dollars for various nonprofits in the Buffalo, NY community. Now, she resides in Tampa, FL where she is a writer, blogger, yogi and Mom.

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